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My youngest grandchild is 20 months. I take her to swimming lessons. Adults are in the water with their little ones. Today was the first session. While paddling around teaching my little one to reach and scoop with her hands, I overheard a dad coaxing his daughter. She was frightened and didn't want to take her hands off him. She had him in a choke hold.

"Let go."

"NO, no, no..."

Then the dad said something that caught my attention and made me smile.

"I will never let go of you. You will let go of me, but I will never let go of you."

Isn't this exactly like our relationship with God?
He never lets go of us. It's we who let go of Him.

I love John Allen. I loved him more when he was with the Globe, but I love him still. I was reading Crux, the Knights of Columbus' independent Catholic news site, where John Allen is editor and read his article, http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/04/17/in-italy-goliard-style-blasphemy-rides-again/ where I learned that goliards were bum clergy who mocked the church and went around holding blasphemous ceremonies. Their lifestyle was sheer depravity and they reveled in it.

They were around in the medieval era. It seems that some men of noble families, who weren't first born were sent off to be priests when they really didn't have a vocation. They had nothing else to do. They must have thought they were pretty smart and showed off their knowledge and humor and mocked what the populace considered sacred. They must have thought they were above all that.

Anyway, it's back. It seems that in Italy, as many as 60 people have been holding parodies of religious ceremon…

Yesterday's experiment failed. Bert said that when he asked God, "Jesus walk with me," his head involuntarily popped up. He couldn't put it back down. And he challenged me to ask Jesus to walk with me.

I did.

Nothing happened. My head stayed down and I continued walking with my head down. I was trying to think if I had said the wrong thing, done it wrong, etc. Then I thought how silly it all was. Jesus doesn't come when magic words are spoken. He's here, all the time. He doesn't obey us; we obey Him. We don't command Him--WALK. So I walked and prayed, meditating upon these thoughts. So Bert's head popped up involuntarily. Maybe God was showing him the way. Maybe Bert should look ahead. Whatever! Whatever God is doing with Bert is his business. And I trust God to show me my way.

Last night, my friend Bert, gave me an experiment to try. He said that his customary way of walking
was plodding along with his head down. He was praying and the thought came to him to ask Jesus to accompany him. So he said, "Jesus walk with me."

The minute he said that his head popped up, involuntarily. He was surprised. So he did it again. And again. He could not put his head back down after he asked Jesus to walk with him.

(1) Community
Stay awhile after the Mass concludes and catch up on neighbors' news. Greet and welcome
newcomers.
(2) It's rude
I'll say!!! Although I never noticed this until I had children singing in the choir. I couldn't get
over that the people in the choir are looking at you, eyeball to eyeball, and you turn around and
leave! How rude! Stay and sing. Stay, tell Father, "good homily," tell the Lector, "good job,"
tell the altar servers, "excellent job," -- you get the idea. You're in church; you should be
concerned about your neighbors, not self absorbed.
(3) Mass is not just an activity
Mass is not on a "To Do List." Is kiss your family on a "To Do List"? Mass is an …

Paddy and an Englishman were sitting in a Boston bar watching the 9:00 news. There was an announcement that a man was going to jump off the Zakim bridge. Paddy said, "$ 20 the man will jump." The Englishman said, "You're on." Both men put $ 20 on the bar.

Paddy and the Englishman watched the news and saw that the poor man did jump off the Zakim bridge. The Englishman said, "Well, you won."

Paddy looked at the money and thought. "No, I can't take it. I saw the 6:00 o'clock news and saw that he jumped." The Englishman said, "Actually, I saw the 6:00 news too. I didn't think he'd jump again!"

Here we go again. Another Saturday ride to the beach, where I fight carsickness--squashed in the middle of the backseat. The youngest, the skinniest is wedged between Grandma and Auntie. There was always some kind of hump on the floor that forced me to place a leg on each side of it. Sometimes, I’d place both feet on the protuberance and my knees would stick up like straws in a frappe. My sister drove and Mama and Dad rode with her, in the front. Are we there yet? Look the cows are laying down. Get up! Get up! Mama would explain that the cows lying on the ground meant it was going to rain. Sometimes we’d stop—to look at the cows—if nature called—if I felt like throwing up. Are we there yet? Somewhere around the corners in Haverhill, hugging the Merrimack River, Dad would turn around and point at me. “You may think you’re pretty smart, but the man that was born there was wittier.” Then he’d lower and raise his eyebrows a couple of times, as we passed a sign that announced, “Bi…

The other night I was the last to leave my women's club meeting. It was abut 9:15 PM. I was carrying an armful. My pocketbook was hanging on my shoulder and my hand on that arm was carrying a coffee pot. My other arm and hand carried a bag with stuff that went with the coffee pot--extension, creamer, sugar, stirrers, and two prizes I had won in the raffle.

I walked slowly and carefully. I plopped everything on the hood of my car. "Whew! Made it." Then I searched in my pocketbook for my car keys. But when I pushed the unlock button I didn't hear anything or see the lock pop up. I pressed again. And again. Huh? I wondered if it needed a battery. I tried the key in the door's lock. No way would it go in. I pressed unlock and nothing. Maybe if I pressed lock and then unlock.

I did. I pressed "lock." Just then I heard a beep--from across the street. I looked. There was my car across the street all lit up from my pressing every button on…

The other day I heard the funniest story about my friend, Joe. Joe lives downtown in one of the houses he owns. He is an elderly man in his late 80's. He's retired and lives a peaceful, routine--happy life. His day begins with his walking to daily Mass, eating breakfast, walking to the town library, reading the newspaper in the library, sitting outside on the library's bench on Main Street and watching the world go by.

One day as Joe is sitting on the bench, a stranger drives up in his car, stops, and hands Joe a little bag. The man gets back in his car and drives off. Joe opens the bag and inside
is a sandwich. Joe doesn't know what to think, never mind what to do. But after awhile, he eats the sandwich.

Another day, another sandwich.

It happens again--and again.

Then comes the day when a mutual friend of ours is in Dunkin Donuts. He is friends with the man who's been giving Joe the sandwiches, but he doesn't know about the sandwiches. But he does …

Prose Poetry Memoir Workshop--9:30-12:30
Lunch
Drive friend home
Writer's Group--1:00-3:00 but I left early to go to colloquium
Go Home, wait for ride at 3:00
5:00 at Boston College for colloquium
7:00 eat supper at Panera's
10:00 come home and crash

It's the colloquium that I want to tell you about. The subject to be discussed was The Theology of Pope Francis: Real Reform or Window Dressing? The speakers were:

Yesterday, I was babysitting. I had to explain the same reasons--many times. And watching my "cloistered brothers" explain to the dogs they are training, over and over again, I was not surprised to hear and read Jesus' response to unbelievers: I told you and you do not believe...

I think the problem is that they find it hard to believe and so they've closed their minds to it, although they see others believing, so they still ask. They really don't want to believe. They're hoping for a really good excuse not to believe but they haven't found it, yet.

They're still searching--not to believe, but to not believe.

My husband does this to me constantly. I want to do something that he doesn't want. First, he doesn't hear. Next, he'll forget. Then, he's waiting. I think he's waiting for me to forget, or something to interfere with my request, or the world to end and he won't have to do it. For example, I have always wante…

Sometimes mistakes are fun. That's what happened today. This morning my grandchildren and I were alone in the house. It was beautiful today. We were going outside to play. My oldest went out the door first and left it open. The baby and I went out next and closed the door. "Oh-oh. "

Luckily, it was beautiful outside. There was no wind to chill us. It was a perfect day. We played on the swingset. We climbed and played inside the tree house. We picked flowers and pinecones. We are trying to toilet train the baby but I couldn't and she kept pulling at her pants like they were uncomfortable. There was nothing I could do about it.

I knew that grandpa was coming in a couple of hours with lunch. We had no choice but to wait. When he did come, we hungry kids took the lunch and ate it in the tree house, while Grandpa went to Mama's wo…

This is a busy weekend for me. Since I don't have any obligatory services to do, I thought I'd go to the last Mass on Saturday, so I'd have two completely free days of "no demands," i.e., Sunday and Patriot's Day. At the 7:30 PM Mass, I saw a familiar face walk down the aisle dressed as in priest vestments. It was Matt Conley
. I know him from prison ministry. And I didn't know he was a priest. I picked up the bulletin and read that he was a transitional deacon. A transitional deacon is a breath away from being a priest. In fact, Matt gave the homily and he mentioned that in one more month he would be ordained a priest.

His homily was good, too. He talked about Amoris Laetitia. He told the congregation to read it. (It's 255 pages of theological/pastoral directions.) But you know, I probably will read it because my "cloistered brothers" read that kind of stuff. They'll want to discuss it. He tied the pope's exhortatio…

Agenzia Fides has a short article about a Filipino bishop asking the people to pray a rosary a day until their elections. I think everyone should do this. We could do this for our own elections.

Reminding the people of the power of prayer, the Filipino Bishops urge the faithful to pray the rosary every day until the elections of May 9. "Pray the mysteries of joy, light, sorrow and glory every day, until May 9. Pray for the family. Pray while you are traveling. Pray in offices and factories. Pray in the world for our national elections", says His Exc. Mgr. Socrates B. Villegas, Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan and President of the Bishops' Conference, in a message published today, April 15.The text, sent to Fides, emphasizes "the power of prayer" and its "ability to influence major events", as seen in the history of the country. "Our best contribution – say the Bishops - is to pray so that the Lord of history guides every voter and guides each cand…

Wednesday of the Third Week of Easter LectioGospel John 6: 35-40 The other scriptures of the day are the First Reading Acts 8: 1B-8 and PS 66:1-3A, 4-5, 6-7A, and the Memorial of St. Martin I – Pope and Martyr, and the Memorial of Blessed Margaret of Costello, according to the Liturgy of Hours for the Order of Preachers.Jesus does not reject anyone Jesus said to the crowds,“I am the bread of life;whoever comes to me will never hunger,and whoever believes in me will never thirst.But I told you that although you have seen me,you do not believe.Everything that the Father gives me will come to me,and I will not reject anyone who comes to me,because I came down from heaven not to do my own willbut the will of the one who sent me.And this is the will of the one who sent me,that I should not lose anything of what he gave me,but that I should raise it on the last day.For this is the will of my Father,that everyone who sees the Son and believes in himmay have eternal life,and I shall raise hi…

Gladys Emilia Acevedo Wilson left funds to establish an annual visiting lectureship in memory of William N.H. Potterton, to be presented to an English language scholar recognized by his peers, at Dean College. Gladys Emilia Acevedo Wilson was a 1938 graduate of Dean Academy. William N.H. Potterton was a much-loved professor. Last night, I attended the lecture by the recipient. Marsha Nourse, Associate Professor of Literature is the Inaugural Acevedo Literary Scholar-in-Residence Spring 2016.

I found it awe-inspiring. I took notes when I was inspired. A page full! Besides subject matter, I was inspired by the format of the presentation. As a teacher, catechist, president, facilitator, I am often giving presentations, and the variety of visual and audio aids, introductions to a speaker, and the poetry readings, gave me some new techniques to try.

Marsha Nourse led us through the years, by decade, from the founding of Dean to the present. It was the history of Dean through the e…

Last evening, I went to a talk by Joel Hoffman. He is an American scholar, linguist, translator, and of course, speaker. I enjoyed his presentation. He is quite entertaining. I learned more of what I thought I knew. The Bible is composed of different genres and has been translated many times by people with limitations, e.i., cultural biases. It was good to have my knowledge expanded by Dr. Hoffman.

I listened with interest his take on the Bible's stand on homosexuality, when life begins, pacifism and the ten commandments. In short, it's the opposite of what is commonly thought. This is what surprised me and elicited the most discussion afterwards.

So I went home, jazzed. I did go right to bed and immediately fell asleep. However, I woke up a couple of hours later, thinking about Dr. Hoffman's take on today's cultural "hot spots." I had the urge to get up and hustle out an email to my pastor. I was going to tell him that the Interfaith Council had…

Every weekend after payday, I’d lay in my bed and listen to my parents bicker. It was the same old stuff, over and over again. “You did this… You did that… I should’ve… I shouldn’t have… You shouldn’t have… You should have… Your father said… Your brothers don’t … If…” Blah, blah, blah, and blah until I blahed myself to sleep. Blahing, crying, hoping, talking, praying, but mostly feeling sorry for myself, until the sandman came. There was one occasion when there was no arguing. Dad had come home late with no paycheck. Instead, in his arms were two big grocery bags, filled with big bottles of booze. He never made it through the door. Mom snatched a neck of one of the beer bottles and smashed it over Dad’s head. She was screaming. I was screaming. And blood was streaming out of Dad’s head, as he lay on the floor moaning. The floor was covered in a layer of beer, blood, an…

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Yesterday, I was reading something about Colonel Sanders. I would like to give the magazine credit,
but I can't find it. I've looked back in two, and I can't find where I read the little biography. What impressed me about it was all the stages of his life. Likewise, so are we.

So which person was Harland David Sanders? Was he the responsible babysitter of his younger siblings? Was he the neophyte cook in his family? Was he the 10-year-old farm laborer who worked for neighbors? Was he the seventh-grade drop-out? Was he the homeless teen? Was he the soldier in the Army? Was he the railroad worker? Was he Josephine King's husband? Was he the grieving father of a son? Was he the proud father of two daughters? Was he the part-time student? Was he the disgruntled employee who was fired? Was he the lawyer? Was he the lawyer who lost his license to practice for brawling with his client? Was he the life insurance salesman? Was he the man who l…

So my TOPS chapter celebrated 2015 achievements, this afternoon. When a person achieves their weight goal, we call them a KOPS (Keep off pounds sensibly). It's not easy. KOPS is what every member is striving to be. It is the pride in personal accomplishment that becomes the motivating force to keep each person striving towards that goal--KOPS.

To achieve this sought after status a member must learn the discipline of the weekly weigh-ins, the counting of calories and carbohydrates, drinking a lot of water, undertake exercise, eat 3-4 servings of fruit and vegetables, and arguably most important--face their personal weaknesses. This requires a lifestyle change. It's not easy to change habits and attitudes. But that's what they do.

During the year 2015, Lillian, achieved KOPS status. She also constantly maintained her healthy weight goal, not going 3 pounds above, nor 7 pounds below. She is very successful. As such, she was named the Queen of our chapter. Congratul…

Friday, T.O.P.S. is having its Spring Awards Luncheon. This means we are going out to EAT. For a nutrition conscience group, this necessitates preparation, of course. Most of our members are in TOPS to lose weight. The others have diabetes or irritable bowel issues. The point is, going out to eat requires foresight. Here's my letter to all the members of TOPS 463.
The first thing to do is eat before you go. Too many people skip breakfast with the result being they're ravenous by the time its meal time. But these breakfast skippers say that eating breakfast makes them sick, or they have to take medication on any empty stomach. I hear them. But my answer to that is to eat as soon as you can. Don't eat a full meal the minute your eyes crack open. Wait a couple of hours and have some toast.
Since we are going out for lunch, I suggest eating an apple on the way. I'm just concerned that you'll make the wrong choices on the menu because everything will loo…

Yesterday we gave a presentation on the Trinity. Our final demonstration was a big hit. Our thesis was that the Father was the Lover, the Son was the Beloved, and the love between was the Holy Spirit. We stressed that Love was an action verb.

Then we took some vinegar and called it the Father. We poured it into a glass bowl that had half a cup of baking soda, calling it the Son. When we poured the vinegar into the baking soda, it exploded.

Ta Da! Ladies and Gentlemen! I present to you the Blessed Trinity.

Everyone sat up straight for that. When the fizz spilled over the bowl, I pointed out "And the Mystical Body of Christ."

It was the longest day of the week. It was the biggest boring day of the week. It was the most monotonous day of the week. It was Sunday.
A day of rest is supposed to be important for our health. Unfortunately, in my family, Sunday was a cause of unhappiness and tension. This was probably due to the fact that I never understood what was going on and no one bothered to take my concerns into consideration. We began the day by dressing in our most uncomfortable clothes—shiniest shoes, dressiest dress, warmest coat, ugliest hat, and even white gloves! Of course, I couldn’t play in them—at least play anything that involved running, falling, climbing, skipping, jumping, leaping, hopping, bouncing, dancing, etc. Eventually, we went off to church. Dad was left behind. He was always drunk and no one wanted him to come to anything, anyway. On the way to church, we picked up Grandma and Auntie. Grandma and Auntie were Lithuanian and didn’t speak good English. Th…

Today Reading is Peter 3:18-4:11. Peter's advice to us is to slow down. Relax. God has everything under control. Stay faithful and all will be well. Comforting, is it not?

The consummation of all is close at hand. Therefore do not be perturbed; remain calm so that you will be able to pray. Above all, let your love for one another be constant, for love covers a multitude of sins. Be mutually hospitable without complaining. As generous distributors of God's manifold grace, put your gifts at the service of one another, each in the measure he has received. The one who speaks is to deliver God's message. The one who serves is to do it with the strength provided by God. Thus, in all of you God is to be glorified through Jesus Christ: to him be glory and dominion throughout the ages. Amen.

Faith is a Lay Dominican with a dual apostolate of cyberministry and prison ministry. She blogs here about her "cloistered brothers," her thoughts, spirituality, prayer, and an occasional poem or two.
She also blogs at http://www.21stcenturydominican.com/ She also updates her chapter's blog, Our Lady of Mercy Chapter,http://sites.google.com/site/ourladyofmercychapter/
Lastly, but in no way, of lesser importance, Faith is the general editor of ELUMEN, the internet newsletter for Lay Dominicans in the Eastern Province of St. Joseph. http://www.3op.org/
To subscribe to ELUMEN, contact prouille_1216@comcast.net
May all I do be for the greater glory of God.